The St. Lunatics | |
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Origin | St. Louis, Missouri, United States |
Genres | Hip hop |
Years active | 1993–present |
Labels | |
Associated acts | |
Members | |
Past members | Slo'Down |
The St. Lunatics are a hip hop group from St. Louis Missouri, United States, formed in 1993. The group consists of Nelly, Ali, Murphy Lee, Kyjuan, and City Spud.
The group's first local independent hit was "Gimme What U Got" in 1997. The group thought it would be easier for Nelly to be signed, rather than the whole group. In 2000, Nelly was signed to Universal Records, followed by the rest of the group. While Nelly was working on his solo album Country Grammar, City Spud was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison for robbery. After Nelly's breakthrough success in 2000, the St. Lunatics released their debut album Free City. In 2001, songs "Summer in the City" and "Midwest Swing" were released. In 2002, Ali released his solo album Heavy Starch and Murphy Lee released his solo album Murphy's Law in 2003. Murphy has launched his own label, UC ME Entertainment, and is currently promoting his new artists. Nelly has since moved on to a successful solo career and, in 2011, Nelly partnered with St. Louis-based Vatterott College to open a music production school in downtown St. Louis called Ex'treme Institute (E.I.) by Nelly.
In 2009, the St. Lunatics were reportedly working on a new album, City Free, to be released in the summer of 2009. The album was postponed until 2011. A song titled "St. Lunatics" was leaked in early March 2009, along with "Get Low 2 Da Flo" which was produced by Play-N-Skillz. The first official single released from the album was "Money Talks" featuring rapper Birdman. The second official single released from the album was "Polo".